Lee-Anne Wann is a health and fitness consultant and a performance nutritionist and she has some expert tips to put into practice when the pressure comes on, and a great recipe for a stress busting smoothie.

Lee-Anne Wann’s top tips to combat stress

With busy daily lives juggling work and family commitments, it’s amazing how quickly we can get stressed. That’s why it’s important to have strategies to de-stress – and these don’t have to be hard.

Our ambassador Lee-Anne Wann is a health and fitness consultant and a performance nutritionist and she has some expert tips to put into practice when the pressure comes on, and a great recipe for a stress busting smoothie:

Eat often Do you find yourself skipping meals when you feel stress? This can actually make the problem worse because your stress levels get higher without food. Keeping up healthy eating helps lower cortisol – cortisol known as the stress hormone and influences many of the ways our bodies respond to stress, like blood sugar levels, blood pressure and immune responses.

Add healthy, natural fats Fish oil is a great nutrition choice, because it contains omega 3 fats that help lower inflammation and can counter the effects of stress over time. Why not try adding salmon to your meal each week? Or how about combining chia seeds (another omega 3 source) with your food or water? If you prefer, try a high quality fish oil supplement.

Drink green tea Green tea is helpful because it’s high in antioxidants, helps burn fat, and reduces inflammation and some of the negative effects stress might have. Even a small amount helps, but six to seven cups each day is the most beneficial for lowering stress. Green tea can be part of a smoothie or shake, or added to your drinking water.

Train for strength Weights work helps us improve the body’s ability to manage s It assists in the production of the antioxidant glutathione, which helps shield us from the effects of stress. I recommend three resistance training sessions of between 20 and 40 minutes each week.

Laugh more Putting a bit more laughter in your day is perhaps the smallest and easiest thing you can do from among this list – and I’m a big believer that small things make for great changes. Laughter can make us more resistant to stress and boost our immune system – so how about getting some friends over and watching a good comedy? It’s a great stress management tool!

Stress busting smoothie recipe

A nutrient rich smoothie makes a great breakfast and an even better start to the day – try this recipe for a burst of energy and some stamina to last the distance!

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp of chia seeds

1 Tbsp of coconut oil

1 Tbsp of goji berries (excellent for building resistance to stress and boost the immune system)

1 tsp of camu camu powder (from the camu berry, this powder is a great source of vitamin C)